Method and system for building and maintenance watch lists

ABSTRACT

A method and apparatus for monitoring a items such as stocks and other securities, suitable for use in portable devices, such as personal organizers, wherein instead of separate watch lists, a pool of items being watched is maintained, and the total number of items which can be contained in the pool is intentionally limited to a predefined number, and further wherein each of the items in the pool includes an associated tag which defines a watch list to which it belongs, and the pool of the items being watched can be viewed simultaneously as one coherent collection, or specific watch lists can be displayed.

PRIORITY CLAIM UNDER 35 USC §119

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.60/190,739 filed Mar. 20, 2000 under 37 USC §119.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention is directed to data organization in personal handheld organizers, and more particularly to a method and apparatus whichmaintains and organizes lists of and information about securities beingmonitored by a user in a personal hand held organizer operating over awireless link.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In the past, watch lists management has been focussed on maintaining avariety of different watch lists. The items in each watch list weremaintained and changed independently of the other watch lists. Thesesystems are sometimes referred to as a “bucket” system where multiple“buckets” of data are maintained, each bucket being maintainedindependently of the others.

Examples of these “bucket” systems can be found, for example, at the URLinvesting.schwab.com of Charles Schwab & Co., Inc., the assignee of thesubject application, in the Charles Schwab Customer Center Watch Listservice, found in Quotes & Research; or in the Morgan Stanley DeanWitter wireless product called “Traderunner” in which lists ofsecurities being monitored are maintained in buckets.

Bucket type systems lead to large numbers of items in the watch lists,with little coordination among the watch lists. This is particularlytroublesome in the wireless world where it is important to limit theamount of information being transmitted.

In the Palm Pilot personal organizer, manufactured by 3COM Corporationof Santa Clara, Calif., applications are listed in a master list. When auser selects an application from the master list, the application islaunched.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In the present invention, instead of separate independent watch lists, apool of items being watched is maintained. In one embodiment of thepresent invention, the total number of items, which can be contained inthe pool, is intentionally limited to a predefined number. Each of theitems in the pool includes an associated tag, which defines a watch listto which it belongs. The pool of the items being watched can be viewedsimultaneously as one coherent collection, or specific watch lists canbe displayed. When a specific watch list is being displayed, the itemsthat are displayed are those which are assigned to that watch list asindicated by their associated tag. When the pool of items is beingviewed in one embodiment of the present invention, the user is providedwith a visual indication of the total number of items in the pool andthe maximum number of items allowed in the pool of items.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the items being watchedare stocks or securities. Each stock being watched is assigned to awatch list or lists. For purposes of the predefined limit on the numberof items in the pool, when a stock is assigned to more than one watchlist, each assignment is treated as a separate item which counts towardthe predefined limit. Thus, a stock assigned to two different watchlists is considered to be two separate items in the pool of items beingwatched.

The above architecture provides a more compact and efficientorganization for monitoring the status of the pool of items, permits thecontents of specific watch list categories to be changed from onecentral location, yet provides the flexibility of viewing subsets of thepool in different combinations according to the criteria provided by theuser. This is particularly important with modern portable devices, suchas personal organizers, which have limited storage capacities as well aslimited communication bandwidths.

The subject invention will be more readily understood upon considerationof the following detailed description and accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a simplified conceptual block diagram illustrating an exampleof the environment within which the subject invention is operable.

FIG. 2 illustrates the organizational structure of the pool of itemsbeing monitored, the watch lists which can be assembled from the pool,and the relationship between them.

FIG. 3 is a simplified flow diagram which Illustrates the operationalflow of one embodiment of the present invention as implemented in a PalmPilot hand held personal organizer.

FIG. 4 simplified diagram which illustrates the screen and functionallayout of one embodiment of the present invention as implemented in aPalm Pilot hand held personal organizer, where an example is shown of apool of items which is being monitored.

FIG. 5 in an example of the relationship between the primary drop downand secondary drop down menus, and the navigation between the watch listmanager and specific watch lists of the embodiment of the presentinvention as Implemented in a Palm Pilot hand held personal organizer.

FIG. 6 is an illustrative example of operations assigned to variousbuttons in the embodiment of the present invention as implemented in aPalm Pilot hand held personal organizer.

FIG. 7 is an illustrative example of the navigational flow associatedwith the “New” button when operated in the Watch List Manager level ofthe embodiment of the present invention as implemented in a Palm Pilothand held personal organizer.

FIG. 8 is an illustrative example of the navigational flow associatedwith the “Edit” button when operated, when a stock is not highlighted,in the Watch List Manager level of the embodiment of the presentinvention as implemented in a Palm Pilot hand held personal organizer.

FIG. 9 is an illustrative example of the navigational flow associatedwith the “Edit” button when operated, when a stock is highlighted, inthe Watch List Manager level of the embodiment of the present inventionas implemented in a Palm Pilot hand held personal organizer.

FIG. 10 is an illustrative example of information displayed andnavigational flow, when a stock is highlighted or a stock ishighlighted, in the Watch List level of the embodiment of the presentinvention as implemented in a Palm Pilot hand held personal organizer.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring to FIG. 1, one embodiment of the present invention is operablein a personal organizer 10, which communicates via a wireless link 12with central communications center 14. The central communications center14 can be self-contained so that it incorporates a centralcommunications link 16, brokerage services 18, and exchanges 20, or canbe formed through links as shown in the figure. Located at the centralcommunications center 14, for example, at the brokerage service 18, is acentral server 19, which holds information about the items in the poolof items being monitored. The information in the central server 19 canbe gathered from the exchanges 20, the brokerage service 18, thepersonal communications device 10, or from other sources. The centralserver 19 exchanges information with the personal communications device10 in order to maintain the pool of items and to populate the watchlists.

FIG. 2 illustrates the relationship between the pool of items beingmaintained in the personal organizer 10 in accordance with the presentinvention and the associated watch lists. The pool of items beingmonitored is maintained in a master list 22. The master list 22 is,intentionally limited in the number of items it can hold; in theillustrated example, the limit is 100 items. In the example of FIG. 2,each item in the master list 22 includes the name of the security beingtracked, and a watch list tag, which indicates to which watch list orlists the item is assigned. For example, the 10^(th) item in master list22 corresponds to security S9 and is assigned to watch list L5; and the68^(th) item corresponds to security 36 which is assigned to watch listL1. Note that the same security can be assigned to several differentwatch lists, e.g. security S7 is assigned to watch lists L1 and L15. Itis also to be noted that security S7 assigned to watch list L1 isconsidered as a separate and distinct item from security S7 assigned towatch list L15.

FIG. 2 also illustrates example watch lists L1, L11, L15 and L28. Notethat a watch list can contain as little as one item, or can contain manyitems.

It is to be understood that the master list 22 and the specific watchlists shown in FIG. 2 are merely illustrative. For example, it is notnecessary within the spirit of the present invention to assign an itemnumber to each item being watch, as long as the total number of items inthe list is limited to a predetermined number. Nor is it necessary toorganize the list in ascending alphanumeric order as is shown in FIG. 2.

In order to better understand the present invention, a more detaileddescription of one embodiment of the present invention will now beprovided in the context of a Palm Pilot personal organizer, manufacturedby 3COM corporation of Santa Clara, Calif. It is to be understood thatthe present invention is suitable for use in other personal organizersor portable devices, and is not limited to the Palm Pilot device.

FIG. 3 provides an operational flow diagram of the invention as it canbe embodied in the Palm Pilot device. In this embodiment, the user workswith the watch list data at two levels: the Watch List Manager Level 24or at the Watch List Level 26. In the Watch List Manager Level 24, theuser is able to manage watch lists by adding, editing, and deletingwatch lists. He will also manage the creation of new entries to listshere and the deletion of them. At the Watch List Level 26 the user willbe able to view information about the items in the watch list which isselected for viewing.

Watch List Manager Level 24:

At the Watch List Manager Level 24 communication is had with the centralcommunications center 14 through the Send 28 and Request 30 operations.In the embodiment of the present invention described hereinafter, thepreferred mechanism for communicating between the personalcommunications device 10 and the central communications center 14, is awireless modem (not shown). It is through the Send operation 28 that thecentral server 19 is informed of changes made by the user to the itemswithin the master list 22, including deletions and additions to themaster list 22, and edits to the items in the master list 22. TheRequest operation 30 is used to retrieve up-to-date information from thecentral communications center 14 about the items in the master list 22.

At the Watch List Level 26 the user uses the Request operation 30 tocommunicate with the central communications center 14 to retrieveup-to-date for the items in the Watch List being viewed. If, while inthe Watch List Level 26 the user wishes to add, delete or edit watchlists or items in a watch list, menu selections or buttons are providedwhich navigate the user back to the Watch List Manager Level 24.

Referring now to FIG. 4, the screen 25 and functional layout of oneembodiment of the present invention as implemented in a Palm Pilot handheld personal organizer is shown. FIG. 5 illustrates an example of theprimary drop down and secondary drop down menus used in the Palm. Pilotembodiment of FIG. 4 through which navigation between the Watch ListManager Level 24 and Watch List Level 26 is accomplished. It is to beunderstood that in the embodiment being described, the invention isimplemented as one feature—the Watch List feature—among several featuresin an application designed for use on a Palm Pilot device. The userselects the Watch List feature from among the other features by usingthe Primary Drop Down menu 32.

In FIG. 4, the primary drop down menu 32 is shown at the top center ofthe screen layout and has an inverted arrow head which indicates,according to the Palm Pilot protocol, the presence of a drop down menu.As can be seen from FIG. 5, the items within primary drop down menu 32includes the Watch List feature as a selection. In FIG. 4, the screen ofinformation being displayed corresponds to the Watch List Manager Level24, and functional block 24A of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 also illustrates the secondary drop down menu 34 which lists theavailable functions once the Watch List feature is selected from theprimary drop down menu 32. It is to be noted that the Manager functionis listed at the bottom of the secondary drop down menu 34, below thelist of specific watch lists which can be accessed. By selecting theManager function from Secondary Drop Down Menu 34, the user will benavigated to the screen shown in FIG. 4.

In FIG. 4, the secondary drop down menu 34 is shown in the upper righthand corner of the screen layout. The abbreviation “Mngr” is shown inthe secondary drop down menu 34 location, thereby indicating that thedevice is in the Watch List Manager Level 24. Thus, within the body ofthe screen 25, seven of the items in the master watch list 22 are beingdisplayed. For example, stock symbol ADBE is shown to be included in thetwo watch lists called “hitek” the watch list. It is to be noted, in thepreferred embodiment, duplication of watch list items is permitted. Ithas been found that such permitted duplication makes reorganization andediting of the lists easier.

The inverted arrowhead next to each listed watch list indicates that aWatch List pull down menu of other watch list selections can be invoked.When the Watch List pull down is invoked for a particular entry (itembeing monitored), the Watch List associated with the entry can bechanged. When this is done, that entry will be associated with thenewly-selected Watch List and removed from the prior Watch List. Forexample, the item (entry) CYGN is associated with the Watch List“Medical.” The user can invoke the Watch List pulldown menu by tappingon the inverted arrowhead which precedes the word “Medical.” The usercan then select, for example, “Hitek,” and thereby cause CYGN to beremoved from the “Medical” watch list, and to be added to the “Hitek”watch list. This operation corresponds to functional block 52 in FIG. 3.

The columns shown in screen 25 are sortable. A header shown in boldindicates that the corresponding column is sorted. The column is bytapping on the header title. The default is ascending alphabetical onfirst tap. Subsequent taps reverse the sort order if an item is alreadyselected.

In the embodiment of FIGS. 3 and 4, The user is allowed to have 100stock or index entries and can manage them in any combination of lists,with the only rule being that there can be no more than 100 Watch Lists.If an entry appears twice, it is counted as two entries. The time stampregion 36 of the screen 25 informs the user of how many entries are inthe list and that there are up to 100 allowed. It has been found thatthe use of the time stamp region 36 in this manner, to inform the userof the maximum number of items allowed, and the current (or running)total of items in the watch list, is an efficient, simple and effectivemethod for instructing the user in the use and the organizationalmethodology of the present invention.

When the device is in the Watch List Level 26, the time stamp region 36indicates the time the data was retrieved. The time stamp region 26 alsohas a dynamic indicator of how many minutes old the data is (i.e. if theuser enters a screen when the data is 15 minutes old, then sits for twominutes, the screen shows that the data is 17 minutes old). The time andtime zone are that of the data source. The time zone is included and isdisplayed as EST or EDT as appropriate.

Referring now to FIGS. 4 and 6, there are several icons and buttonsbelow the time stamp region 36: “Request” icon 30, “New” button 38,“Edit” button 40, “Send” button 28, “Trade” icon 42, and “Quick Access”icon 44. Tapping the “Request” icon 30 causes the Palm Pilot Device toestablish a link with the central communications center, 14 in order torefresh the data for the items in the Watch List.

Tapping the “New” button 38 when no entry (item being monitored) isselected invokes the process 38 shown in FIG. 3, and described in moredetail herein, through which a new watch list or new entry can be made.When the “New” button 38 is tapped, the dialog screen “New Watch ListInformation” 39 appears, through which the user can select betweencreating a new entry or a new watch list. See FIG. 6.

Tapping on the “Edit” button 40 invokes the process 40 shown in FIGS. 3and 6, and described in more detail herein, through which an existingwatch lists or entries can be edited. When the “Edit” button is tapped,the dialog screen “Edit Watch List” 41 appears through which the usercan select between renaming or deleting a watch list. See FIG. 6.

The “Send” button 28 is presented to the user when a change has beenmade to the watch lists or entries. When the “Send” button 28 is tapped,the Palm Pilot Device establishes a link with the central communicationscenter 14 and passes along the changes to the central server 19. In thismanner, both the remote Palm Pilot Device and the central server 19 willhave the master list 22 and the identification of the watch listsassigned to each of the items in the master list 22.

If the user selects a particular entry, and then taps the trade icon 42,he will be brought to a Trade screen with the symbol filled in. TheTrade feature is one of the other features in the application of whichthe Watch List features is a part.

The Quick Access icon 44 allows a user to invoke a pull down menu inwhich are listed five most frequently used screens, as defined by theuser, and gives immediate navigation to them. See FIG. 6.

Also shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, below the row of icons and buttons, are thePalm Pilot Device Applications button, Menu button 46, and text andnumber entry screen. Tapping on the Menu button 46 invokes Options andEdit menus, to be described hereinafter, which are implemented in theWatch List Manager Level 24, FIG. 3. In the Options menu the “EditEntry” selection will not be present unless the user has selected anentry on the screen 25.

The operations invoked by tapping the above icons or buttons will now bedescribed in greater detail with reference to FIGS. 3 and 7 to 9.

Send 28:

As indicated above, the Send button 28 is not presented to the userunless a change has been made to a watch list or watch list entry usingone of the drop down menus or dialogs. Once a change has been recorded,the button will become visible and will act to send the watch list backto the central server 19, via the wireless link 12.

When a user is sending, a progress dialog will appear. If the send issuccessful, the user will get the “Send Watch List Mgr Confirmation(5517)” message:

Send Watch List Mgr Confirmation (5517):

-   -   Title: Watch List Info Sent    -   Icon Indicator: Info    -   Message: Your watch list information has been sent to (service        provider) and successfully saved.        -   Button: OK

Tapping OK will bring the user back to the Watch List Manager Level 24screen. If the user attempts to change screens without sending changedwatch list information, he will get the “Send Before Leave? (5519)”error message:

Send Before Leave? (5519):

-   -   Title: Send Watch List Information?    -   Icon Indicator Warning    -   Message: You have changes to your watch list information that        you must send to (service provider) before use. What would you        like to do with these changes?    -   Buttons: Send/Discard/Cancel

Tapping Send will send the changes and take the user to the location hewants to go. Tapping Discard will ignore changes and take the user tothe location he has requested. Cancel will do nothing but bring the userback to the Watch List Manager Level 24 screen, and the user's changeswill be preserved but not sent.

If the connection fails to send the watch list changes, the user getsthe error message “Send Watch List Error”:

Send Watch List Error:

-   -   Title: Cannot Send Watch Lists.    -   Icon Indicator: Fail    -   Message: We were unable to send information about your watch        lists to the server at this time. Would you like to revert to        your last sent list or hold changes until they can be sent at a        later time? Holding changes will disable watch lists until the        changes can be sent.    -   Button: Revert/Hold

If the user initiated the dialog via the Send command 28, reverting willbring the user back to the previously sent version of the Watch List.Manager Level 24. Holding will bring the user to back to the Watch ListManager Level 24 screen with no changes made. The user's changes will bepreserved but not sent, but if the user tries to leave, he will bepresented with a Send dialog.

If the user got to the “Cannot Send Watch Lists” dialog through the“Send Before Leave? (5519)” dialog, reverting will bring the user to thenewly requested location, and changes to the watch list information willnot be retained, but watch lists will work.

Holding will bring the user to the newly requested screen. The user'schanges will be preserved but not sent. Holding will disable watchlists, so if the user goes to a watch list, he will get a “Send fromHolding” dialog that will inform him he needs to send watch list changesbefore the watch lists will work. “No” will keep the user in the currentwatch list, with no Information available. “Yes” will bring the user tothe Watch List Manager, and will execute a send command automatically.

Send from Holding Dialog:

-   -   Title: Cannot Use Watch Lists    -   Icon Indicator Fail    -   Message: You are holding changes in your Watch List Manager. In        order to use any of your watch lists, you will need to send        these changes. Would you like to go to your Watch. List Manager        and do so now?    -   Button: Yes/No

Request 30:

The Request button 30 loads watch list information into the Palm PilotDevice off of the central server 19 located at the centralcommunications center 14. If a user has made changes at the Watch ListManager Level 24, and taps the refresh, button 30, he will get thedialog “Request Before Send Error” indicating that the refresh willcause a data loss.

Request Before Send Error Dialog:

-   -   Title: Request Watch List Information?    -   Icon Indicator: Warning    -   Message: Are you sure you want to request watch list information        from the server before sending? Doing so will cause your changes        to be lost.    -   Button: Request/Cancel

In order to prevent the data loss, the user would press “Cancel” andthen tap the “Send” button 28. Hitting “Request” will result in a lossof the changes made by the user.

If the connection fails during a request, the user will get the errordialog “Request Watch List Error.” The user will see a screen indicating“Watch List Manager (No Information).”

Request Watch List Error:

-   -   Title: Cannot Retrieve Watch Lists    -   Icon Indicator: Fail    -   Message: We were unable to retrieve information about your Watch        Lists at this time.    -   Button: OK

New 38:

Tapping the “New” button 38 will bring up the “New Watch ListInformation” dialog 39, FIG. 7 that asks the user to choose whether hewould like a new entry or new Watch List. The dialog shows by default inthe drop down the item the user last selected. If it is the first time,“Entry” will be selected as the drop down choice. In this way, if a useris trying to rapidly enter a number of entries, this choice will addonly one more tap.

The New button 38 is always present during the Watch List Manager Level24 and the Watch List Level 26. If there are no watch lists, the onlychoice will be to add a new watch list. This means that one can neveradd an entry as “not selected” (i.e., without assigning it to a watchlist) with the intent of adding it to a list later.

New Watch List 48:

If, in response to the “New Watch List Information” dialog 39 the userselects “Watch List,” the “New Watch List” dialog box 48 will appear.See FIG. 7. Watch List names will consist of 1 to 10 letters andnumbers. Other characters will not be allowed, nor will spaces. If theuser doesn't meet this criterion, he will get the error message “WatchList Name Error.”

Watch List Name Error:

-   -   Title: Watch List Name Error    -   Icon Indicator: Warning    -   Message: Your watch list name can be 1 to 10 letters or numbers        and cannot have a space.    -   Button: OK

If a user taps add and no information is filled in, he will get theerror dialog “Watch List Incomplete Information.”

Watch List Incomplete Information:

-   -   Title: Incomplete Information    -   Icon Indicator: Warning    -   Message: You must fill in a name for your watch list.    -   Button: OK.

If the user attempts to add a name that already exists, he will get theerror dialog “New Watch List: Same Name (5518).” If the user taps OK, heis brought back to the “New Watch List” dialog with the old data stillpresent for editing.

New Watch List: Same Name (5518):

-   -   Title: Name Already Exists    -   Icon Indicator: Fail    -   Message: You already have a Watch List named [name attempted.]        Please enter a different name for this Watch List.    -   Button: OK

If the user reaches 100 watch lists, he will get the error dialog “TooMany Watch Lists (5502)” when he taps the OK button in the “New WatchList Information” dialog 39. Tapping OK will bring him back to the WatchList Manager Level 24 screen.

Too Many Watch. Lists (55021:

-   -   Title: Too Many Watch Lists    -   Icon Indicator: Warning    -   Message: You can only have 100 watch lists. You may not add        another watch list until another watch list has been deleted.    -   Button: OK

If the user successfully adds a new list, he will get the confirmationdialog “Add Watch List Confirmation.” When the user taps “OK,” he willbe brought to the Watch List Manager Level 24 screen.

Add Watch List Confirmation:

-   -   Title: Watch List Added    -   Icon Indicator: Info    -   Message: [Watch List name] has been successfully added.    -   Button: OK

New Entry 50:

If, in response to the “New Watch List Information” dialog 39, the userselects “Entry,” the “New Entry” dialog 50 is displayed. If the usersuccessfully adds the entry to the watch list, he will return to theWatch List Manager Level 24 screen with the new entry added, and thelist scrolled to reveal it. The defaults for the New Entry dialog 50fields will be: A blank in Symbol. The drop down will consist of allwatch lists that the user has. The default the first time will be thefirst alphabetical watch list. After the first time, the drop down willstay on the last list selected by the user.

If the user enters an unknown symbol, such unknown symbols will appearin a watch list, but the watch list will have “Unknown” In the pricelist, and the user can later delete the entry. The use of “Unknown” as aprice will not be limited to entries that are misspelled. A valid stockcould become decommissioned during mergers or bankruptcy.

If a user taps “add” in the “New Entry” dialog 50 and no information isfilled in, he will get the error dialog “Watch List Entry IncompleteInformation.”

Watch List Entry Incomplete Information:

-   -   Title: Incomplete Information    -   Icon Indicator: Warning    -   Message: You must fill in a symbol.        -   Button: OK

The Palm Pilot device will perform local validation to see if a user hasa valid form for a symbol. A valid stock symbol is 1-5 alpha characters.A valid index symbol is a period followed by 1-4 alpha characters. Ifthe symbol field does not meet this description, the user will get thedialog “Invalid Symbol.” OK will return the user to the New Entrydialog.

Invalid Symbol:

-   -   Title: Invalid Symbol    -   Icon Indicator: Fail    -   Message: This is not a valid symbol. Please re-enter.    -   Button: OK

If the entry already exists in the watch list, the user will get noerror. The user will be able to list multiple occurrences of the samesymbol in a single watch list. Each occurrence will count against the100-entry limit. If there are already 100 symbols in the watch listmanager, the user will be shown the dialog “Too Many Entries (5505)”when he chooses the OK button in the “New Watch List Information”dialog.

When the user taps OK, he will be brought back to the Watch List ManagerLevel 24 screen.

Too Many Entries (5505):

-   -   Title: Too Many Entries    -   Icon Indicator: Fail    -   Message: You have reached the maximum number of entries (100)        allowed in your watch list manager. In order to add a symbol,        you will have to delete another from the list.    -   Button: OK

Edit 40:

Referring now to FIGS. 8 and 9, in this embodiment of the presentinvention, the Edit button 40 is always present. If the user is on anentry (stock), it will bring him to the dialog: “Edit Watch List Entry”52. Otherwise, it will bring the user to a dialog that will prompt himto either rename or delete a watch list: “Edit Watch List” 54. The userwill have to select which watch list to edit as there will be no way toselect one directly.

Edit Watch List 54:

The defaults for the Edit Watch List dialog 54 fields are: The watchlist drop down will be the last selected by the user. If it is the firsttime, it will be the first alphabetical list. The default for the radiobutton will be the delete option 56, and the rename field 58 will beempty.

If the user chooses to rename the watch list and succeeds, he will getthe “Edit Watch List Confirmation” dialog.

Edit Watch List Confirmation:

-   -   Title: Watch List Renamed    -   Icon Indicator: Info    -   Message: Watch List “[Old watch list name]” has been        successfully renamed to watch list “[new watch list name.]”    -   Button: OK

If the user taps “OK,” he will return to the Watch List Manager Level 24with changes made. If he fails, the same error conditions and dialogswill appear as in creating a new watch list.

If the user chooses to delete the watch list and taps Make Change, hewill be brought to the dialog “Delete Watch List” 60. In either case, ifthe user taps Cancel, he will return to the Watch List Manager Level 24with no changes made.

If the user enters a new name which already exists, he will get theerror message, just as in the creation of a new watch list discussedabove, “New Watch List: Same Name (5518).”

Edit Entry 52:

Referring now to FIG. 9, the dialogs for editing watch list entries willnow be discussed. The defaults for the Edit Watch List Entry dialog 52fields are: The default for the radio button will be the delete option62. The watch list drop down will be the last selected by the user. Ifit is the first time, it will be the first alphabetical list. The renamefield 64 will be pre-filled with the entry that was selected.

Delete Watch List or Entry:

A user will come to delete either a watch list or an entry from theirrespective edit dialogs. There are no menus for the delete dialogs. Ifin the “Edit Watch List” dialog 54, the user chooses to delete the watchlist, he will be brought to the “Delete Watch List” dialog 60, FIG. 8,and asked to confirm the deletion. If in the “Edit Entry” dialog 52, theuser chooses to delete the entry, he will be brought to the “DeleteWatch List Entry” dialog 66, FIG. 9, and asked to confirm the deletion.

Delete Watch List:

If the user selects Delete in the “Delete Watch List” dialog 60, and itsuccessfully occurs, the user will get the confirmation “Delete WatchList Confirmation.” Tapping OK will bring the user in this dialog to theWatch List Manager Level 24 with the watch list, and its stocks deleted.If the user chooses to Cancel from the “Delete Watch List” dialog 60, hewill be brought back to the Watch List Manager Level 24 without anychanges having been made.

Delete Watch List Confirmation:

-   -   Title: Watch List and Entries Deleted    -   Icon Indicator: Info    -   Message: The watch list “[watch list name]” and all of its        entries have been successfully deleted from your set of watch        lists.    -   Button: OK

Delete Entry:

If the user chooses to delete an entry in the “Edit Watch List Entry”dialog 52, he will get the “Delete Watch List Entry” dialog 66, FIG. 9.If the entry appears in more than one list, a checkbox 68 will beavailable that will allow the user to delete the entry symbol from alllists in which it occurs. The default is off. (It is to be noted thatthe example illustrated in FIG. 9, the entry “ADBE” appears in more thanone list.) If the user taps Cancel, he will be brought back to the WatchList Manager Level 24 with no changes made.

If the deletion happens successfully, the user will see the dialog“Delete Entry from Watch List Confirmation.” If the user taps OK, hewill be brought back to the Watch List Manager Level 24 with the changesmade.

Delete Entry from Watch List Confirmation—Entry Removed from One List:

-   -   Title: Watch List Entry Deleted    -   Icon Indicator: Info    -   Message: [Entry] has been removed from the Watch List “[Watch        List name].”    -   Button: OK

Delete Entry from Watch List Confirmation—Entry Removed from All Lists:

-   -   Title: Watch List Entry Deleted    -   Icon Indicator: Info    -   Message: [Entry] has been removed from all Watch Lists.    -   Button: OK

Watch List Level 26:

As discussed in connection with FIGS. 4 and 5, the user can navigatebetween the Watch List Manager Level 24 and specific watch lists in theWatch List Level 26 through secondary drop down menu 34. If a userselects to see a watch list from the secondary drop down menu 34, hewill be shown the screens 70 or 72 in FIG. 10, for example. Screen 70shows the information provided for the “hitek” watch list when an index,e.g. “.DJI” is selected. When an index is in a watch list and isselected, the bid and ask fields will be omitted. If volume informationis not available, that field will have “n/a” entered.

Screen 72 shows the information provided for the “hitek” watch list whenan individual stock, e.g. “AAPL” is selected. Because there is noexplicit support for decimal alignment on the Palm Pilot device, and inorder to conserve space, the values for Bid, Ask, Volume, High, Low, and% Move are positioned as shown in screens 70 and 72, aligned right afterthe field label. This is also because the longest labels happen to needthe least value space.

Sorting:

When the user is in the Watch List Level 26, as illustrated in FIG. 10,tapping on the Symbol column header will sort the list by symbol.Tapping on the Last Trd (last trade) will sort by that column. These twowill be bolded when each is the sort column. The change and volume radiobox serve both to select what data appears in the last column as well asto indicate and execute the sort. The sort upon entry will be the statein which the user last left the watch list. If it is the first entry,the default will be sorted by Symbol. The first time the user tapseither of the Chng or Vol boxes, it will go to descending numericalorder. If the item is highlighted and is tapped again, the sort orderwill reverse.

Palm Pilot Menu:

Also shown in FIG. 10 are the navigational paths through which the usercan add, edit or delete entries in the watch list. As shown, the PalmPilot device menu 46 provides the New Entry and Edit Entry and DeleteEntry functions for the user. In contrast with the Watch List ManagerLevel 24, the New, Edit buttons have been removed from the screen in theWatch List Level 26 in order to conserve screen space.

The New Entry menu item will bring the user to the dialog “New Entry”50, FIGS. 3 and 7. The user will be navigated to Watch List ManagerLevel 24, and all error conditions defined in the Watch List ManagerLevel 24 will apply.

The Edit Entry menu item will bring the user to the dialog “Edit Entry”52, FIGS. 3 and 9, based on the selected entry. The user will benavigated to Watch List Manager Level 24, and all error conditionsdefined in the Watch List Manager Level 24 will apply. The Delete Entrymenu item will bring the user to the dialog “Delete Entry” 66, FIGS. 3and 9, based on the selected entry. The user will be navigated to WatchList Manager Level 24, and all error conditions defined in the WatchList Manager Level 24 will apply.

Request:

The Request button 30 will update the entry information. It is alwaysactive.

News:

The News button 74 will appear when there is market moving newsheadlines for the selected stock. If the user selects news, he willeffectively execute a search for market moving news on the companyselected and will be brought directly to the headlines result screen forcompany news. If a stock does not have market-moving news, and it isselected, the News button will disappear. If the user jumps to headlinesfrom this screen, a “Watch” button will appear that will allow the userto return to the watch list he left in order to see the news. Thisbutton will only appear from a direct jump to the headlines from thewatch list news button. If the user navigates to any other primaryand/or secondary, and then returns, the context-sensitive “Watch” buttongoes away. Also, if the user executes a new headline search, uponrefresh, the button will go away.

Details:

A user will be able to get details on a stock symbol. The Details button76 will bring up the Quote Details dialog, for both stock and indices, afeature associated with another function available from the primary dropdown menu 32 in the application of which the present invention is afeature. Here, however, if the user closes the Quote Details dialog viathe “Back to Watch,” he will return to the Watch List screen.

The features and operations described herein are implemented in aconventional manner, and in conformance with the software developmentand application interface standards and user interface standards for thePalm Pilot device. While the content, and thereby the organizationalfeatures described above are novel, they are implemented using standardPalm Pilot programming techniques.

The terms expressions which have been employed herein are used as termsof description and not of limitation, and there is no intention in theuse of such terms and expressions of excluding equivalents of thefeatures shown and described, or portions thereof, it being recognizedthat various modifications are possible within the scope of theinvention claimed.

1.-20. (canceled)
 21. A method of tracking information for a pluralityof securities at a computing device of the type which is capable ofexchanging information with a communications center, the methodcomprising: maintaining a data list at the computing device whichincludes each of the plurality of securities being tracked, wherein thedata list is limited to a predetermined number of securities, andwherein the data list includes a user-defined category tag for each ofthe plurality of securities being tracked; and generating at least onesublist that includes a subset of the plurality of securities beingtracked, wherein each sublist corresponds to a user-defined categorytag, whereby each of the securities included in each sublist includesthe user-defined category tag associated with the corresponding sublist.22. The method of claim 21, further comprising receiving at thecomputing device updated information from the communications center foreach of the plurality of securities included in the maintained datalist.
 23. The method of claim 21, wherein the data list further includesa first number which indicates a running total of the number of items inthe data list, and a second number which indicates a predeterminednumber of data items permitted in the data list.
 24. The method of claim21, wherein at least one of the plurality of securities being trackedincludes at least two different user-defined category tags.
 25. Themethod of claim 24, wherein the generating at least one sublistgenerates at least two sublists, the method further comprisingdisplaying the at least two generated sublists wherein the at least oneof the plurality of securities being tracked including at least twodifferent user-defined category tags is displayed in at least two of thegenerated sublists corresponding to the at least two user-definedcategory tags included with the security.
 26. The method of claim 21,wherein the computing device is a hand-held computing device.
 27. Themethod of claim 21, wherein the maintaining the data list includesadding a new item to the plurality of securities to be tracked.
 28. Themethod of claim 27, wherein the adding a new item includes providing atleast one category tag for the new item.
 29. The method of claim 27,wherein the adding a new item includes the step of determining whetherthe addition of the new item to the data list will produce a data listfor which the number of securities on the data list exceeds thepredetermined number of securities permitted on the list.
 30. The methodof claim 29, wherein as a result of the determining step determiningthat the addition of the new item will produce a data list for which thenumber of securities on the data list exceeds the predetermined numberof securities permitted on the list, the method further comprisesrequiring at least one of the plurality of securities on the data listto be deleted to produce a data list that does not exceed thepredetermined number of securities permitted on the list.
 31. Acomputing device having a processor and a computer readable medium withsets of instructions thereon, which when executed by the processor causethe processor to: maintain a data list at the computing device whichincludes each of the plurality of securities being tracked, wherein thedata list is limited to a predetermined number of securities, andwherein the data list includes a user-defined category tag for each ofthe plurality of securities being tracked; generate at least one sublistthat includes a subset of the plurality of securities being tracked,wherein each sublist corresponds to a user-defined category tag, wherebyeach of the securities included in each sublist includes theuser-defined category tag associated with the corresponding sublist. 32.The computing device of claim 31, wherein the computing device isfurther configured to receive updated information from thecommunications center for each of the plurality of securities includedin the maintained data list.
 33. The computing device of claim 31,wherein the data list further includes a first number which indicates arunning total of the number of items in the data list, and a secondnumber which indicates a predetermined number of data items permitted inthe data list.
 34. The computing device of claim 31, wherein at leastone of the plurality of securities being tracked includes at least twodifferent user-defined category tags.
 35. The computing device of claim31, wherein the execution that generates at least one sublist generatesat least two sublists, and wherein the instructions, which when executedby the processor, further cause the processor to display the at leasttwo generated sublists wherein the at least one of the plurality ofsecurities being tracked including at least two different user-definedcategory tags is displayed in at least two of the generated sublistscorresponding to the at least two user-defined category tags includedwith the security.
 36. The method of claim 31, wherein the computingdevice is a hand-held computing device.
 37. The method of claim 31,wherein maintenance of the data list includes instructions, which whenexecuted by the processor, further cause the processor to add a new itemto the plurality of securities to be tracked.
 38. The method of claim37, wherein the adding a new item includes providing at least onecategory tag for the new item.
 39. The method of claim 37, wherein theadding a new item includes a determination of whether the addition ofthe new item to the data list will produce a data list for which thenumber of securities on the data list exceeds the predetermined numberof securities permitted on the list.
 40. The method of claim 39, whereinas a result of a determination that the addition of the new item willproduce a data list for which the number of securities on the data listexceeds the predetermined number of securities permitted on the list,the instructions, which when executed by the processor, further causethe processor to require at least one of the plurality of securities onthe data list to be deleted to produce a data list that does not exceedthe predetermined number of securities permitted on the list.